Wednesday, May 25, 2016

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night Four Review

Another single camera night where only the tournament matches are posted on NJPW World. At least two of the matches set, the final two, really intrigue me and this has potential to be an improvement on the first B Block showing on night two. This was also a smaller show than most as, from what I read, there were less than 1,000 in attendance.

B Block: Volador Jr. [2] def. Tiger Mask IV [0] in 9:47Back on night two, both guys suffered losses. Volador to Beretta and Tiger Mask to Ricochet. They got off to a rather quick start here, with both men showing off their athleticism before Tiger Mask took Volador down to the mat. Volador nailed a nice front flip to the outside, being the first to go high risk. This was before removing his mask and following with an Asai moonsault. Once it returned to the ring, they had some more back and forth. Tiger Mask got in a submission but Volador made it to the ropes. Volador then got on a roll, hitting a superkick, backstabber and then winning with his Depredador Estrada submission. Entertaining start to the show as both guys worked hard and worked a crisp match. Better than the night two opener. ***

B Block: Jushin Thunder Liger [4] def. Chase Owens [2] in 7:12This time around, Chase Owens showed up with Yujiro Takahashi, ensuring that we see the two least important Bullet Club members at the same time. Owens pulled off the upset by besting Will Ospreay on night two, while Liger beat Bobby Fish. I love Liger’s theme by the way. Liger was all about stretching Owens, almost instantly putting him in the surfboard. Owens had a small advantage in the power department it seemed and was sure to taunt and flex for the crowd. Liger tripped him up for his troubles and looked to teach him a lesson. There was a great countout tease where Takahashi held Liger’s legs but he beat the count at 19. Owens used underhanded tactics and interference to gain control. Liger blocked a package piledriver and won with a crucifix pin. After the match, Owens hit the package piledriver and Liger was stretchered out. It looked to be an angle. I thought the match was fine and glad we got some old school heeling from Owens. **¾

B Block: Ricochet [4] def. ROH World Television Champion Bobby Fish [0] in 12:30On night two, Ricochet defeated Tiger Mask IV, while Bobby Fish fell to Liger. This is the match I was most looking forward to on the first two B Block shows. The crowd was firmly behind Ricochet and he gave them what they wanted with a sweet moonsault to the outside early. Ricochet’s offense is so fluid and innovative that Bobby was overwhelmed by it at times. As the match progressed, we got some impressive looks strikes from both guys, but especially Ricochet. Fish recently went toe to toe with Tomohiro Ishii, so it was more of a surprise to see this style from Ricochet. Fish hit the falcon arrow for two and transitioned right into a heel hook. Ricochet escaped and, after a vicious knee strike, won with the Benadryller. About as solid a match as you can find as there were no dead spots, lots of good work and it was really enjoyable. I do wish Fish targeted the leg more, since that makes perfect sense against someone like Ricochet. While it was very good, it never quite crossed into great territory. ***½

B Block: Beretta [4] def. Will Ospreay [0] in 11:55For your recap, Beretta won against Volador on night two, while Ospreay was upset by Chase Owens. Both guys are members of the Chaos stable. There were some friendly moments early on where they one upped one another and patted each other on the head after. It felt like they were really hammering home the fact that Beretta was the more experienced competitor as he seemed to have an answer for everything young Ospreay tried. Beretta was better in that role than I expected, doing little things to capitalize on every opening. It felt like Ospreay got a bit too cocky at times and it would always cost him. After some great back and forth, he fell to the Dudebuster. They shook hands after the bell since they are stablemates after all. I thought that these guys showed really good chemistry and had the best match since KUSHIDA/O’Reilly on night one. Hopefully, Ospreay starts picking up wins now. ***¾

Overall: 7/10. Another night of action and another solid outing from all eight performers. I found this to be better than the first B Block show two nights earlier. Owens/Liger was decent, Volador and Tiger Mask had a good showing and Ricochet vs. Bobby Fish was really good, albeit a slight disappointment. Beretta and Ospreay is the one to watch on this card though.